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El ling
General information Phonology Consonants Vowels Alphabet Phonotactics Grammar Nouns There are 50 noun genders. These represented inherent properties of the noun in the proto-language, but due to the modern variety's having descended from the secret code language of astrologers, which showed no agreement between regions on gender assignment (each word being assigned its 'astrological gender', a randomly chosen gender), and it is thus accepted to use any gender. It is strongly encouraged the reader use gender assignment for grammatical purposes (see below). However, the definite and indefinite articles, being phonetically adapted to the former first syllable of the word, are still dependent on the word itself. They are included with the word in the lexicon. Moving on, the root of the word always ends in -i. This can then be followed by the dual suffix -o, the trial -u, or the plural -a if appropriate. A gender suffix then appears finally. This can be any consonant. Note that pronouns are a subcategory of nouns. In order to form the genitive, one must use the possessive form (see below) Verbs Verbs take suffixes for tense, mood, and the gender of their arguments. All verbal roots end in -u. The first suffix is for time. This can be marked as tense with no suffix for present, -e for past and -i for future. In addition to these, there are the suffixes é and í,which represent preset times. The times can be set by adding the suffix l followed by the appropriate vowel just before the gender suffix. There is also the suffix -a, which represents the imperative. The time suffixes are followed by suffixes for arguments. These are basically the gender of the noun in the position followed by a vowel representing case. These are as follows: These are as follows: e for the nominative, i for the accusuative, u for the dative, a for the ablative, í for the instrumental, é for the commitative, o for the locative, and some more soon. Any number of these can be included, and one can even have multiple instances of the same case; this is just the equivalent of using 'and'. After these, there is a consonant representing intensity. The consonants are the unvoiced ones, and the intensity represented increases with letter (see the alphabetical order above). The consonant can be voiced to make the verb a causitive. The intenstiy suffix is followed by a vowel representing the 'direction' of the verb. This works as follows: A verb can be in the interrogative, the affirmative or the negative. Which it is depends on the group to which the vowel belongs. The vowel itself makes it clear whether the verb is in the indicative or subjunctive. Below is a table of the possible combinations and the corresponding vowel: These may be followed by the time-setting suffix (see above). Finally, a consonant appears. This assigns a gender to the noun representing the action as a whole. Adverbs and Numbers Adverbs and numbers compose the two minority classes. Both inflect for the gender of the arguments, and adverbs also inflect for intensity. Neither has a gender of their own. Adverbs have a main root and a key vowel. They only constraint on the main root is that it must end in a vowel. It is followed immediately by a consonant representing intensity, which works in the same way as for verbs (see above). Note that voicing, rather than representing a causative, represents the negative. This is then followed by the key vowel, which is in turn followed by a suffix representing the gender of the argument. Numbers are adverbs with nothing for a root and o for the key vowel. the 'intensity' represents the number, increasing by one per unit. Note that adverbs can be used with nouns. They have an adjectivial meaning in this case. Numbers used with verbs represent repetitions. Semi-Verbals The semi-verbal class is not a lexical class. It is solely grammatical. Members are basically nouns dressed as verbs. They may take either a definite or indefinite article. They begin with a root. This is a noun with the -i replaced by an -u. The suffixes that follow are exactly the same as for verbs. Two different forms must be accounted for, however. Firstly, the subject suffix. The gender included here is that of the noun used for the root, as this is the subject of the verb. Secondly, the intensity suffix is not the standard. The suffixes taken are as follows: To form the causitive, rather than voicing the intensity suffix, one adds either -i- or -u- before the 'direction' consonant. Syntax The syntax section is very short. There is only one rule concerning word order, and that concerns set phonemes, such as genders and times (of verbs). These must go in the logical order. Considering there's nothing else to say about syntax, let us move onto some slightly less grammatical pieces of grammar. Firstly, the content pronouns. These are a small set of nouns which are used to represent things such as the what in 'what John knows about Linux'. They are as follows: teni, dali, goʈʰi, and qʰandi. Now we move onto the subjunctive. The subjunctive, on its own, means 'may' or 'might'. If one wants it to mean 'would', it must be combined with the adverb da-o, which means 'conditionally', although it cannot be used where this word would be used in English. Vocabulary Example text Category:Languages